Nature place-based literacy learning: Cultivating responsibility while empowering middle school youth

: Learning is inextricably relational. To effectively address adolescent literacy gaps which persist nationwide, as well as consider emergent technology in the United States’ schools, it is necessary to prioritize practices which enhance relationships and in tandem, enhance learning. This ethnographic case study examines the experiences of 17 middle school students from a rural school who participated in nature place-based learning through their reading intervention class beginning in 2020 and progressing into the 2020–2021 school year. These students attended a three-day residential earth education program just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic and continued engaging in nature place-based literacy learning locally once they returned to their middle school. Through activities involving reading, writing, speaking, and listening, as well as exploring natural places using literacy as a medium, students’ reading identity and environmental identity coalesced with their personal psychological and sociocultural identity development, transforming their middle school experiences into meaningful endeavors that continue to benefit their community and inspire others. The study holds substantial relevance for middle school educators in diverse geographical contexts beyond rural settings who aim to center learning as interconnected to students’ lives and livelihood.